I really like the variety on offer this month. When I first glanced at this thread early this morning the voting was visible. So like Caleb I was going to wait to see if any particular titles took off as I have already read a few of these, and frankly thought a couple of those were just not very good.

However, with the poll now changed to hidden there is no reason to wait. Though I have my doubts about how much I will like Persuasion, if it is not selected here I will probably never consider reading it so I'd like that inducement.

I really like the variety on offer this month. When I first glanced at this thread early this morning the voting was visible. So like Caleb I was going to wait to see if any particular titles took off as I have already read a few of these, and frankly thought a couple of those were just not very good.

However, with the poll now changed to hidden there is no reason to wait. Though I have my doubts about how much I will like Persuasion, if it is not selected here I will probably never consider reading it so I'd like that inducement.

A good place to have Persuasion win is in the romance month. There are some better books nominated this month. So please don't drag them down with a dreary romance book.

I just came back and saw your post for this one. I'll see about getting that one in also.

Please remove the links for the ePub omnibus as it is known to crash a 505 because it has a number of errors that need fixing. The ePub by HarryT also has a number of errors (according to FlightCrew) and could maybe also cause problems. Two of the errors are structural errors in the OPF.

I put up a new clean ePub because I found it easier to convert and fix up the Mobipocket version I previously created then to go and fix one of the already existing ePub editions.

A good place to have Persuasion win is in the romance month. There are some better books nominated this month. So please don't drag them down with a dreary romance book.

In terms of literary merit, the only other nomination this month to equal Persuasion is Middlemarch. I'll happily reread either, but Persuasion is shorter. Classics can come in a lot of forms and I have no issue with any book on this month's list, but to dismiss Persuasion as "a dreary romance" shows you don't know whereof you write. I assume you've never read it?

Since the MR Omnibus volume of H G Wells seems to have problems, it is worth noting that the iTunes store has an inexpensive Wells collection: The Time Machine, and Other Stories.

It includes:

The Time Machine
The War of the Worlds
The Island of Doctor Moreau
The First Men In The Moon
The Invisible Man
The Country of the Blind
The Door In the Wall and Other Stories
Tono-Bungay

It has an active TOC which will allow the reader to switch between the lndividual volumes--but does not allow one to navigate within specific books {other than by using bookmarks}-which some might find annoying. Despite that failing in formatting, it is an economical way of getting a group of novels by this significant author--Amazon doesn't seem to have an inexpensive single volume ebook collection of Wells----something I would really like to have----

Argh - please not Middlemarch! Is it seriously nearly 1000 pages? There's no way I can factor that in to any reading plans for quite a while.

If the tidal wave pushes Persuasion to the front I believe I will finally read my first Austen. At around 200 pages it's probably a gentle introduction.

(but I'd really prefer Old Man and the Sea - or The War of the Worlds - or The Call of the Wild - hint hint)

Just for the sake of conversation though, Ivanhoe and The Three Musketeers would be on my TBR list as well. I just don't have a timeline for it. I've decided that I need to re-read all the classics that I read "younger reader" versions of when I was a young whippersnapper.

I'm trying to remember what they all are, but they would include (I think):
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
- Ivanhoe
- A Tale of Two Cities
- The Three Musketeers
- Treasure Island
- Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (scheduled this for 2013)
- Robinson Crusoe

There might be one or two more.

I decided I wanted to honour these books because looking back I have fairly strong memories of these books kindling the passion I have for reading. I still remember the enthusiasm with which I devoured them way back then.